Review of Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) by Brandon W — 28 Mar 2015

Kung Fu Panda is one of rare sequels that is actually better than the first movie. The voice actors are still awesome as ever, with Gary Oldman being one of the best parts of the film. It's actually surprising that it even has Danny McBride and Jean-Claude Van Damme because I didn't think they would fit in so well, but they make it worked.

The animation is still impressive to look at like the first film while putting in more 2D animation in. Soundtrack by Han Zimmer and John Powell is still beautiful to listen to which I'm starting to think that they work really well together.

With the new director involved in this, I was actually hoping that Jennifer Yuh Nelson knows what she's doing, but she did a fantastic job with the directing of it, and with Guillermo del Toro involved in it, it actually made it darker than the first film which is really cool.

It never got too dark as Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, and also a little help from Charlie Kaufman too, always kept it funny as always, and all of the jokes they wrote worked for me. The drama scenes are extended, but they are really effective that like the first movie, viewers will start shedding a tear.

The action scenes are still just entertaining to watch as the first movie, and it never felt the same to me. The friendship chemistry between Po and Tigress is fantastic as it really felt believable, and it never seem like they hate each other like the first film until the end where she respects him.

The character development is more improved, and Lord Shen is absolutely intimidating. Lord Shen's design looks really cool, and his backstory is really good. He's one of the best villains in an animated movie that I ever seen.

Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of the best animated films I ever seen that's up there with most of the Pixar films and Shrek 2, and I really wonder what they are going to do with the sequel.